


A Gauntlet to Run

by antigrav_vector



Series: CapIM bingo fills - 2016 [11]
Category: Captain America (Comics), Iron Man (Comic), The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Angst, Cap_Ironman Bingo, Comic Book Science, Gen, Multiverse, Tony Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-08
Updated: 2016-06-08
Packaged: 2018-07-13 02:55:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7135613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antigrav_vector/pseuds/antigrav_vector
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony manages to get home, but what's waiting for him is almost worse than expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Gauntlet to Run

**Author's Note:**

> With thanks for canon and characterisation help to [fynndin](http://archiveofourown.org/users/fyndinn/pseuds/fynndin) and [MassiveSpaceWren](http://archiveofourown.org/users/fyndinn/pseuds/MassiveSpaceWren), respectively. <3

When his vision cleared, Tony smiled crookedly. He could feel his home all around him again. The familiar subliminal hum of the servers, and the silent blaring of his own anti-intruder alarms.

He shut them off with a thought, even as a pair of Avengers came storming into the living room his dimensional portal had deposited him in. At least he hadn't fallen from the ceiling this time. That had hurt. Tony prepared himself, mentally, gathering his thoughts and trying to get himself back into the right mindset for home. He'd relaxed a lot while he'd been abroad in the multiverse, and his little adventure was bound to sound like a tall tale to the others. Though, in recent years, those seemed to have almost become the norm for the team.

Carol was eyeing him suspiciously. "And who might you be?" She demanded, cautious as ever in such things. They'd learned from the Skrull Invasion.

"It's me, Carol," he said after a beat. "Go ahead and do the scan if you feel the need to. I want some coffee."

Turning and walking casually into the kitchen, he left them to stare at each other in mild confusion. "Well, if that's not our Shellhead, I don't know who it could be," Jan commented, drifting into the kitchen after him as he filled the coffee machine's water tank. "I doubt an imposter would be so calm."

Carol snorted loudly as she followed. "We'll see," she replied darkly. "Get the scanner, Jan. I'll keep an eye on him. And tell Steve he can stop harassing Richards, now."

Tony had to suppress a groan. He would have to smooth things over between those two once again, it seemed. Steve could get abrasive when he wanted, and he never had quite gotten along with Reed. "Tell me he didn't start a fight," he asked Carol, knowing his tone would telegraph his resignation and dismay over the idea.

Carol made a sound that might have qualified for a laugh under other circumstances. "Are you kidding? I don't think either of them have gotten a wink of sleep in the last two days, thanks to the latest threat Reed's come close to unleashing in the name of getting you back. Last I heard, he'd found a universe where we're all vampire bunnies, for whatever bizarre reason. Since then, Steve's been trying to keep him from making things worse with his damned portal machine. Reed, of course, didn't think you'd find your own way back, and something tells me he'll be trying himself in knots over the data he wants to dig out of your brain, the moment he finds out you're back." 

Tony groaned and started the coffee maker running. He would need the caffeine, at this rate. Two days. Jesus.

The thought drew his attention to the anomaly in Carol's statement. "Wait. Two days? I was there for a week."

Carol have him a look. "No, you weren't. Unless time moves differently there. Here, you've been gone for just over two months, and the last few days have been a nightmare for those of us still halfway sane." She gave him a pointed look, as though the whole thing had been his fault.

Well, to a degree, maybe it had been. Tony shrugged, and said nothing. He probably should have known better than to let Reed test something like that while they were in the room with it.

Jan returned with the scanner, then, interrupting the discussion, and suddenly things were all business. Once they were satisfied it was really him, the two of them immediately threw him back into his position as coordinator and bombarded him with information about the two months he'd missed. Apparently things had been hectic, here.

With a wistful half-wish that he could have stayed with his hosts a little longer despite everything, Tony accepted the change of topic. Back to work.

It wasn't until much later that evening that Carol tracked him down again.

"So," she opened carefully, dropping down on the sofa beside him. "What happened to you? You're different."

Tony gave her a wry look. "The usual," he quipped. "I saw a few things that opened my eyes to the way things have been going. Mistakes I've made..."

Carol shoved lightly at his shoulder. "Seriously."

"Seriously."

The room was silent for a while.

Eventually Carol spoke again. "If you don't want to tell me, fine. But you know I'll listen without judging."

Tony huffed. "You're not Steve. I know," he said wryly. "And, really, that's part of the problem. A lot of what I saw and experienced involves him directly."

That statement got him a knowing look. "You know," Carol put in after a beat, "I think he might be the only one who doesn't know how you feel about him. Considered telling him?"

"We both know that would end badly. Especially now, in all this tension." Tony rubbed at his face with his palms, pressing hard enough to muffle his voice. 

"And what you saw out there in the multiverse," Carol guessed shrewdly, "was what could have been if you'd had the guts to say something, wasn't it."

He didn't reply, knowing that his very silence on the issue was confirmation enough for her.

Neither of them said anything until the ping of the elevator cut through the quiet like a heated knife.

Tony turned to see who it was and froze.

"Hey Steve," Carol greeted him easily and stood. "I was just leaving, but I think Tony's not about to sleep for a while. And I think you have a few things to talk about."

Tony growled under his breath at her and got a smug smirk in response. Most of his attention was on Steve, though. Now that he'd seen another version of his Steve, he couldn't help looking for the minute differences between the two. There weren't many. The hairstyle was the most obvious. 

Steve, for his part, looked rather like a deer caught in headlights. As though he hadn't heard that Tony was home and had been expecting the room to be empty. "I suppose we do," he said after a long moment.

"So talk. I'm going to bed." With a satisfied nod, Carol left. 

They stared at one another for what felt like half an eternity before Steve cleared his throat and took a step closer. "What did you want to talk about?"

Tony saw how carefully Steve was keeping his distance. Controlling his expression, too, no doubt. With a shrug Tony threw himself into the emotional gauntlet, hoping it wouldn't end in a mire of anger and doubt, and told him, "lots of things. But I don't want another fight. I'm tired. So if you're still angry, go to bed and we can do this later."

That statement got him a raised eyebrow and some sarcasm. "Trying to avoid saying it, are you?"

The truth of that, no matter how unintended, cut to the bone.

He'd learned a few things while he'd been out of town. And no, he _didn't_ want to say a word about it. Having Steve throw it all back in his face would hurt too much. Even after two months of time to get past all the pain and death, Steve still was angry at him. It showed, at least to someone as good at reading him as Tony.

He probably deserved it. Usually did.

Couldn't seem _not_ to fuck that friendship up, recently.

Something of it must have shown on his face, because a moment later, Steve was standing in front of him. "Tony?"

"Where did we go wrong," he blurted, looking up at Steve briefly, and immediately winced, backtracking. "No, nevermind, I can't--"

Steve was suddenly half-crouched in front of him, putting them on level ground, so Tony clamped his mouth shut.

Silence reigned for a few long seconds. Tony sighed heavily. "This was a mistake," he mumbled. "Should have just gone to bed."

Steve huffed in patent disbelief. "Tony, you've never willingly been asleep before midnight in all the time I've known you. Now. Are you going to tell me what you're talking about, or do I have to guess?"

"You. Me. It's... we ruined it." Tony looked away. He couldn't bear to see the look on Steve's face. Didn't want to see the disgust and anger he knew would be there.

"Only if we let it stay the way it is," Steve shrugged. "I was angry." Right, Tony'd forgotten for a moment that Steve was as good at reading _him_. He paused just for a split second before he continued, and this time his words cut right to the heart. "I still am. But that doesn't mean I don't still care about my friends, and you are still my friend. Aren't you?"

Steve always did know how to hurt him most.


End file.
